Our inability to remember
details can be annoying.
Yet if we understand how our
brain works—why it forgets
some things and remembers
others—we can gain a whole
new appreciation for this marvel.

Many people mistakenly believe that the brain
permanently stores all the information it encounters,
but we just can’t always access it. In fact, we
forget many things, which appear to be gone forever.
And that’s a good thing!

Consider what happens if we remember too
much. One famous psychology patient could
remember lists of hundreds of random words
without even trying, but this posed a huge problem.
He had trouble forgetting anything. Even
worse, he had difficulty distinguishing between
useful and useless information. His brain was
overloaded because he could not identify what
was really important.1

God created our brains to process an unimaginably
complex stream of information—trillions of
bits pour into our brain every second from all our
senses. As we monitor the world, our brains must
discard useless details and latch onto anything of
short-term or long-term value.

As we juggle the humdrum details of life, our
brains may sometimes get out of kilter. In the
vast majority of situations, however, even the
“average” mind performs unparalleled miracles.

Not Like a Computer

As a child, I had a good memory that impressed
grownups. In the sixth grade I could recite all
forty U.S. presidents in order, the years they were
in office, most of the vice presidents, and their
home states. Some would compliment me, “Wow,
you have a memory like a computer!” As a neuroscientist,
I’m happy to say that human memory
is quite unlike a computer’s—and infinitely more
amazing.

Unlike computers, our brains are self-organizing,
self-governing, and self-repairing. The processing
center doesn’t file memories in a separate
place. Instead, our brain uses the same cells that
store our memories to process information, and
it “builds” memories by making new connections
between these existing cells.

Every time
you recall
a memory,
your brain
creates
a new
conne ction
between
brain cells.

How is this better than a computer string of 0s
and 1s? Our memories aren’t just random facts we
pile up and recite on demand. Instead, our brains
use our memories to help us think creatively about
new situations (and even raise new questions!).
We are constantly assimilating outside information
and incorporating it into how we think. The
memories become a part of our thoughts.

We still have much to learn about how all this
works. After all, the brain contains 100 billion
cells, and each neuron can form tens of thousands
of connections with other neurons. (That
adds up to one quadrillion connections—1015—in
case you were wondering.)

Where’s My Space

Back to the example of finding your car in the
parking lot.

The brain maintains a detailed map of your
body as it moves in space and across time. So why
do you still forget where you parked your car? The
most common reason is you weren’t paying attention
when you got out of the car. You were probably
thinking about where you were going and
forgot to glance around to register a few boundaries
and landmarks.

Memories Made to Last

A critical function of the brain is to sort out
what we should remember and not remember.
For example, it might be helpful to remember the
number of canned vegetables left in the cupboard
so we don’t run out, but who cares how many cans
are left on the shelf after we buy one at the store?

God designed the brain so that only some memories
last. Memories are believed to go from short- to
long-term memory by reinforcement. Initially,
the synapses involved in a memory trace are very
weak. However, with repetition or a link to strong
emotions, the connections become stronger and
stronger.

If you regularly park in the same general area,
the connections between neurons get stronger
and are easier to access next time. This explains
why repetition aids learning. I learned the presidents
by frequent repetition. Yet because I haven’t
repeated them in a long time, I’ve forgotten
some names.

More Complicated Than You Thought

When a word
is “on the
tip of your
tongue” but
you can’t
recall it, this
condi tion is
called anomia.

We’ve only scratched the surface of what it
takes to remember where you parked your car.
You need much more than
“spatial memory.” What is the
color and shape of your car?
What does your model of car
look like in bright sun or rain,
or from the rear or side? How
should your eyes scan the
parking lot to detect your car?
How should your feet walk to
your car (and follow the traffic
laws so you don’t get run over)?

Simply asking, “Where’d I
park my car?” requires you to
draw the right words out of
your vocabulary, which probably exceeds 50,000
words, and correctly apply the rules of the English
language. The list goes on and on, but the
brain does all this quickly and seamlessly.

How does your brain keep all this straight? For
starters, it distinguishes between two main types
of long-term memory. They are processed and
stored very differently. Declarative memory deals
with the recall of “what” (facts and events). In
contrast, procedural memory deals with “how to.”
Identifying your car or remembering the names
of presidents is declarative memory, whereas
riding a bike or swimming is procedural memory.

While we must consciously recall declarative
facts, the brain typically applies procedural
memory without our consciously thinking about it.

Remembering Only the Best Parts

A critical
function of
our brain is to
sort out what
we should
remember and
not remember.

God designed our brains so we can focus
on the important things and not get lost in
insignificant details. Contrary to popular belief,
we do not remember every detail of every single
event. That much information would be completely
overwhelming. Our memories are selective.
We remember only major things that we
think are critical. When we try to recall the whole
event, the brain pulls up major details and fills in
the rest.

If it is a major event, our brains store more
details. This explains why you can remember
many details from terrible news, such as the
death of a loved one or the 9-11 terrorist bombings
at the World Trade Center. Strong emotions
seem to enhance our ability to remember, and the
more senses that were engaged in the experience,
the more connections we have to the memory.

Sharing the Load

Through brain scans, we now
believe that each memory is
spread over many places in the
brain. This is called the distributive
model. Memory does
not simply consist of individual
cells storing separate facts
but a shared system requiring
many different neurons.
One advantage of spreading
out information is that, if one
brain cell dies, the information
is not permanently lost. Using multiple neurons
alleviates this problem.

Same Scene, Different Views

When we look at a scene, such as our car sitting in the parking
lot, the brain processes the information differently than when we
later try to remember that scene.

Notice that the scene produces activity in the brain’s main “visual
processing” center, called the primary visual cortex, located at the
back of the brain. That’s where the brain combines signals from our
two eyes before it stores any details in long-term memory.

When the brain later tries to recall that memory, it must go to
other parts of the brain. Apparently the brain stores only the most
important details and puts them with related things (for instance,
people are stored in the same neighborhood as animals, not with
automobiles or motorcycles).

When we try to remember a scene, our brain must piece together
all the details and fill in the gaps. We don’t yet understand how
this happens, but it gives humans mental powers unmatched by
any computer. This massive parallel processing allows us to access
hundreds of related memories and ideas, compare them, and then
reach new insights.

This explains why, if you hear a song that was
popular years ago, many other events from the
same time period can flood your mind. When you
activate the neurons for that memory, related
memories are activated as well.

This system is extremely helpful. Our lives are
filled with situations that aren’t identical but similar.
The brain can pull up many similar memories
to help us resolve new challenges quickly.

The human brain has an amazing plasticity and
capacity. Plasticity refers to how the brain can
change in response to new experiences to create
new memories. Capacity refers to the amount of
information that can be stored.

The fact that there are so many different brain
regions and processes involved in the storage
and retrieval of memories points to a Creator.
Memory gives an advantage to those organisms
that possess it, but how do you evolve this ability
through gradual modification? It is only advantageous
if you have a fully functional system.

Never Forget

God doesn’t want His people to forget Him or
what He has done for them. It is interesting to
me as a neuroscientist to see the importance that
God placed on using ritual ceremonies to help
us recall His grace. After He saved the first-born
children during the first Passover, the Israelites
were told to repeat this ceremony every year to
reinforce the memory of God’s grace.

At the Lord’s Supper, Jesus established a new
ceremony: “Do this in remembrance of me.” Every
time we partake at church, we remember His shed
blood and the first observance in the upper room
in Jerusalem. This God-ordained ceremony reinforces
our memory of God’s wondrous grace.

These religious practices involve both declarative
and procedural memories. Since more senses
are involved, the brain is more engaged and more
likely to maintain the memory of Christ’s wondrous
grace. God, who made our brains, knew
what He was doing when He implemented these
ceremonies!

Throughout our lives, He wants us to focus our
minds and affections on “things above,” filling
our minds with good things (Colossians 3:2;
Philippians 4:8). God designed the brain’s synapses
to help us by literally reinforcing our memories
when we meditate on truly important things.
Just think about that the next time you can’t find
your car!

Dr. David A. DeWitt holds a PhD in neuroscience from Case Western
Reserve University. Currently chair of the Department of Biology and
Chemistry and director of the Center for Creation Studies at Liberty
University, his primary research efforts have focused on the mechanisms
causing cellular damage in Alzheimer’s disease.

Answers Magazine

July – September 2013

To say that the human brain is more amazing than a computer misses the point. We now know that it’s nothing like a computer— and far more powerful! In this issue of Answers you’ll learn why a computer will never match the human brain. Also, discover why the big bang is a theory in crisis, what the Bible says about women in combat, and much more!